Airbus’ training facility in Asia to be established close to New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport

Airbus is setting up a greenfield training facility at Aerocity, New Delhi, to support India’s growing need for Airbus aircraft pilots and maintenance engineers. The ground-breaking for the Airbus India Training Centre was performed by P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Hon’ble Union Minister of Civil Aviation and Tom Enders, CEO, Airbus in the presence of Jayant Sinha, Hon’ble Minister of State for Civil Aviation. India is the fastest growing domestic aviation market in the world and is expected to continue to grow at an annualised 9.3% over the next 20 years, outpacing the world average of 4.6%. The number of trips per capita in India is expected to quadruple by 2035 due to a combination of economic and demographic factors. To cater to this huge demand, Airbus forecasts a requirement for at least 1,600 new passenger and freighter aircraft by 2035. The consequent increase in Indian in-service aircraft fleet will lead to an accompanying need for over 24,000 new pilots and maintenance engineers.